Who are the Big Dogs when it comes to food sensitivities?

It’s amazing what happens when you can take out the “big dogs” (gluten, corn, soy, and dairy) as they are called, that contribute to digestion issues, brain fog, and the unwanted little tire around the waistline. Soy and corn remain controversial but it is become increasingly difficult without any labeling laws, to really know that your soy and corn are GMO free. For lack of better explanation, these genetically modified crops are still “blowing in the wind”, and certainly affecting everywhere they land including nearby non GMO crops. So what to do? Be aware, buy organic, and if your real curious, take both of them out of your diet for a week (one at a time) and see how you feel the next time you eat them. Take note of gassiness, depression, irritability, brain fog, aches in the body, or anything that makes you feel like crap. It can take up to 3-4 days for symptoms to disappear so add them back in one at a time as well. Better yet, sign up for my spring clean eating program in April, and I will be your biggest fan as you move thru some big shifts. Don’t be afraid…be brave and bold. Your health, longevity, and that figure of yours are depending on you to make good decisions. So let’s get foxy for spring girlfriend, regardless of how you feel right now!

As most of my peeps know, especially my tribe that I adventure with regularly, I have been gluten free since 2000, BUT only 80% of the time. On this cleanse, I learned how energizing and delicious (and how smart for crying out loud!) I would feel by taking it out 100% for an extended period of time. WOW is all I can say. Dairy was tough, but not near as hard as my glass of wine that I enjoyed in the evening. Coffee, also GONE, and I can’t believe the energy I found kissing that sweet wonderful relationship goodbye. MAN I love coffee! Now I just have a substitute, with all the glorious habits built in without all the caffeine that robs you of sleep and hormonal bliss (even when you drink it in the am!). I will be sharing my new coffee alternative, my morning mojo, in my cleanse. I have two that I just love that will give you more energy all day and one includes my favorite dark chocolate. Besides it’s the habit that most of us enjoy so much anyways, not the jitters that we fall pray to later in the day.

So the cleanse/detox is based on the elimination diet. We also eliminated the other BIGGER DOGS: Coffee, alcohol, dark chocolate (shoot my other best friend), refined sugars and processed food. The surprising foods that also needed to hit the highway were grains and beans (my tribe also knows me and hummus don’t get along real well, as much as my tastebuds just love it and its just darn convenient on a camping/climbing trip). So why the grains and beans you ask? Because these little morsels are difficult to digest (hence why Beano is such a lucrative company), and have ANTI-NUTRIENTS, and actually keep us from absorbing many nutrients that are beneficial for us and our gut health. I am enjoying my skinny jeans, less junk in my truck ,and maybe even a 6 pack (ok maybe just a 3 pack I hate working may abs!) with my grain and legume free diet. I enjoy dairy on occasion but steer far away from gluten to have my fully functioning brain that I also really love. I am still riding the high of unlimited energy without coffee and alcohol but suspect that restriction won’t be forever as I don’t believe in denial, so they are more of a treat now than a daily vice. The essential reason to cleanse, to get rid of built up toxins annually or even seasonally if you can, to build up that one and only body that you count on.

If you want to learn more about HOW and WHY to soak your seeds, nuts, and grains read more here with one of my favorite mentors, Dr Axe .